London 2012 Olympics: Metropolitan Police arrest 90 in early strikes against touts and ticket frauds

The Metropolitan Police says it has made more than 90 arrests for
ticket-related offences in the past 18 months in a pre-emptive strike
against individuals and criminal networks in the build-up to the Olympics.

On the ball: Former footballer Mark Bright (centre), England and Chelsea footballer Dani Buet (left) and long jumper Chris Tomlinson pose outside Wembley stadium to promote the Olympic football ticket launch, but police are urging caution against toutsPhoto: PA

The crackdown, which has netted low-level ticket touts as well as organised gangs involved in ticket fraud and counterfeiting, has been carried out by the Met’s dedicated ‘Operation Podium’ team, which was set up last year to combat crime at the London Games. It is currently staffed by 36 officers, which will rise to 50 next year.

Detective Superintendent Nick Downing, who is in charge of the operation, said the aim was to identify and disrupt criminals who were likely to target the Olympics and to send out a strong message to deter ticket crime next summer.

“In total, since we started in June 2010, we’ve made over 90 arrests in relation to a wide range of criminality and we’ve disrupted over 10 criminal networks, so we are very active. We also have a number of ongoing operations which I obviously can’t discuss.

“Our approach is very much about a pre-emptive strike. We’ve looked at what activity is ongoing throughout the UK and internationally today. It’s our expectation that that activity will replicate itself for the Olympics. Bearing in mind it’s the biggest sporting event in the world, it’s going to be a massive opportunity for the criminals to exploit.”

The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act makes it a criminal offence, punishable by fines of up to £20,000, to sell London 2012 tickets on the black market.

Outside the Games, however, anti-touting legislation in the UK is minimal and it is only against the law to sell black-market tickets for football matches.

As part of their research into how touting operates, members of the Podium team worked with their New Zealand counterparts at the Rugby World Cup, where they discovered British touts out in force.

Downing said: “When we do research at events internationally or in the UK, it’s always the British touts, particularly criminals, who are the most prolific.” But he added that the threat next summer went beyond touting outside venues and extended to fraudulent websites selling non-existent tickets as well as organised counterfeiting gangs.

Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the parents of swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who won two gold medals, were among thousands of people who were conned into paying inflated prices for tickets advertised on a website that they never received. The fraud led to the conviction of three men this summer, who received jail sentences of up to eight years.

The fact that official 2012 tickets will not be sent out to purchasers until next June could reduce the likelihood of a flood of counterfeit tickets hitting the market, though Downing said his team were not complacent.

“We will look at that activity and we will look at the intelligence we have,” he said. “We are actively looking into the counterfeiting market and we want to take action in that area way before the Games start.” Downing added that the public should be wary of buying tickets from anywhere other than official London 2012 sources.

“As soon as people start looking elsewhere to buy their tickets, they become vulnerable, whether that’s a small ad in their local newspaper or an ad on the web,” he said.

“What we don’t want is the UK public and international public becoming vulnerable to buying a non-existent ticket or a counterfeit ticket because they don’t know any better. As soon as you allow things to go out of control, opportunities for the criminals grow.”